Category: Blog

Haaretz 18 May 2017. On Sunday 14 May, 12 South African ministers and deputy ministers started a 24-hour hunger strike as an act of solidarity with the striking Palestinian prisoners, in an attempt to increase economic and political pressure on Israel. This was initiated successfully by the Kathrada Foundation, named after late Apartheid fighter Ahmed […]

Haaretz 3 April 2017 The rockets from Gaza land on all citizens, regardless of their nationality, religion, or language. Yet the State claims there is higher probability that rockets will fall on a Jewish community than on an unrecognised Bedouin village in the Negev, even though both are equidistant from Gaza and within the hit […]

Last week Palestinian writer, cook and activist Laila El-Haddad appeared in Melbourne, hosted on her Australian tour by the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS). El-Haddad delivered a talk at the Wheeler Centre, a cooking demonstration at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival (MFWF), and a talk about Culinary Resistance at the Moroccan Deli-cacy. Her cooking demonstration for […]

AJDS Community Organiser, Yael Winikoff, was recently interviewed by Veronica Matheson on J-Air about Laila El-Haddad’s imminent Australian tour and why the AJDS decided to bring her out here. The AJDS is committed to broadening and invigorating the dialog between Jews and Palestinians, said Yael, educating people about the living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza, and examining […]

I just completed the Gen17 survey, which follows Gen08, Monash University’s first iteration of this survey of Jews in New Zealand and Australia. Let me say first off that I am a fan of surveys, not because I believe in their ability to translate lived experience into accurate data – since there’s always a compromise. […]

The recent AJDS Annual General Meeting (26/2/17) generously hosted by Sivan Barak was attended by MPs Colleen Hartland and Nina Springle of the Greens, who kindly joined our lunch and told us about their portfolios and experience with Australian Jewish community politics, tackling racism and Islamophobia in our communities, the diversity of opinion within the […]

Sylvie Leber, having just returned from a study tour of the Middle East, spoke at the protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Australia this month. Here is the full transcript, republished with her permission: The reason I’m here speaking to you today is to let you know that as an Australian Jew, Israel’s prime minister, […]

The Israeli Prime Minister is due to arrive in Australia on Wednesday 22nd at the invitation of Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. Despite the strong support that the Australian government has given the current Israeli government, there is growing concern and condemnation of Israel’s actions under Netanyahu. The Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS) endorsed and spoke […]

On the 6th of February, late in the evening, the Israeli Knesset passed a bill 60-52 termed the “Regularization Law” or ‘expropriation bill’. The bill retroactively legalises some 4,000 homes in 16 Israeli settlements in Area C of the West Bank that are on private Palestinian land. According to the bill, the land on which […]

By Yael Winikoff. Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, celebrates Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. It has come to be traditionally viewed as a time to reflect on victory, joy and peace, and for these reasons has been a date that has been marked with marches and protests on such issues as war, nuclear disarmament and […]

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